GMU 117 - 49 Degrees North, Washington

GMU 117 spans roughly 958 square miles across Stevens and Pend Oreille counties in northeastern Washington. Elevations range from approximately 2,200 feet along valley bottoms to 5,400 feet on Selkirk Mountain ridgelines. The northern portion of the unit — within Colville National Forest and the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge — is the most rugged, featuring dense conifer timber (ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, larch, spruce) and patches of past clear-cuts in various stages of regrowth. The central section transitions through mixed timber and brushy benches. The southern and eastern lowlands along the Pend Oreille River are dominated by rolling private agricultural ground — hay fields, pastures, and scattered woodlots — providing classic whitetail edge habitat. The unit is bounded generally by Highway 395 and Highway 20.

Total public land is approximately 41% of the unit (roughly 393 square miles). Colville National Forest comprises the single largest public block but covers less than 20% of the unit on its own. Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge (LPNWR) is the second-largest public tract and is open to hunting September 1 through December 31 under Washington state regulations; a refuge hunting permit is required. Year-round open roads on LPNWR include Bear Creek Road, Buffalo-Wilson Road, and Narcisse Creek Road; all other refuge roads are seasonally closed (January 1 through April 14 or January 1 through September 30). WDFW DNR state trust lands add a further ~5% of public access. A notable closure exists on USFS lands south of Ruby Creek Road (USFS Rd 2489), north of Tacoma Creek Road (USFS Rd 2389), and west of BPA power lines — the Parker Lake Closure Area, reserved year-round for the U.S. Air Force Military Survival Training Program except for special commission-authorized hunts. The remaining 59% of the unit is private land, much of it agricultural ground along the Pend Oreille River and lower valleys, limiting walk-in access in the most productive whitetail habitat.

Northern and central unit: ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, western larch, and Engelmann spruce with dense understory shrubs (ninebark, serviceberry, rose). Logged areas support dense young conifer regeneration mixed with grass and forb openings — key elk and deer forage areas. LPNWR contains refuge lakes, wetland marsh complexes, and meadows providing waterfowl stopover and moose/deer habitat. Lower valleys and Pend Oreille River corridor: hay fields, cereal grain fields (wheat, oats), pastureland, and riparian timber — prime whitetail habitat. Overall the unit is more heavily timbered than units to the south and west.

White-tailed deer inhabit the unit year-round but exhibit strong altitudinal migration in winter: deer that summer in the higher Colville NF and LPNWR terrain push down to lower snowpack areas along the Pend Oreille River corridor and valley-bottom agricultural land by November-December. LPNWR serves as important winter range. Elk are distributed throughout the unit year-round and are concentrated in the Pend Oreille sub-herd area (shared with adjacent GMUs 111 and 121). Bull elk use the higher timbered terrain during the September rut; cows and calves use forest openings and logged areas. Black bears are active spring through fall, with notable concentrations reported near Kalispel Peak in the gated USFS area. Turkeys are resident in mixed forest-agriculture edge zones.

GMU 117 produced the highest elk harvest of any unit in WDFW District 1 in both 2023 (54 elk) and 2024 (72 elk), accounting for roughly 22% of the district total in 2024. Deer hunting pressure is relatively high given the unit's proximity to the Spokane metro area — 2,487 deer hunters participated in 2024. The Parker Lake Closure Area on USFS land is a common source of confusion for new hunters; verify boundaries before entering. Road closures on LPNWR mean foot access is required for much of the refuge September 1 through opening of rifle season. Primitive camping is allowed in Colville NF and on LPNWR for most of the year; check for fire restrictions and forest road closures seasonally. Mandatory harvest reporting within 5 days is required for all deer and elk in the 100-series GMUs (Region 1). The HuntScore public access rating for this unit is 26/100, reflecting the significant private land fragmentation despite 41% public ownership.